Thoughts for the Week

I’m not talking about the salvation of a person, but rather the description of something in the media. In current American culture, there are several genres that are marketed as being “Christian.” There are Christian movies, bands, TV shows, books, and the list goes on.

However, what are the qualifications? Does the main character/singer/producer need to be a Christian? Does there need to be a mention of God or Jesus in a positive way? There’s no definitive answer.

But would you believe there’s a book of the Bible that does not mention God at all? That would be the book of Esther. It’s a powerful, moving story about a woman who becomes queen and defends her people against complete destruction. But not once is God brought up in this story.

I’ve always taken this to show how something can bring glory to God even when the thing is not evidently about him.

The story of Esther shows how being brave and doing the right thing in the face of certain death is honorable and should be held up as an example for all generations. (Esther 4:14b). God had said in his word to “be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

The book of Esther shows this commandment bring applied in a real story which brings glory to the God. Also, God is ultimately the one who allowed this story which does not mention him to be part of the Biblical collection of stories.

So instead of asking if something is “Christian,” a better question to ask is if something honors God, even if it doesn’t explicitly mention him. If so, I believe it can have a lot of value, even if not “Christian.”